Conventional cattle feeders consist generally of a head-level rack for storing the hay, either loose or baled, and a trough in the area below the rack. The purpose of the trough is to catch any hay that falls from the rack. The cattle eat both from the rack and from the trough.
Conventional cattle feeders have been generally rather wasteful of hay. In conventional outdoor feeders, as much as 30 percent of the hay can be lost, through being scattered around, and either blown away, or trampled.
Cattle do not eat neatly. The main manner in which the waste occurs is this, that the cow tears at a bale of hay, by gripping a tuft of hay in the mouth. The cow draws the tuft of hay out of the bale, and aside, before starting to eat the mouthful of hay. Inevitably, a proportion of the hay in the tuft falls from the cow's mouth during this phase. That this fallen hay is wasted has hitherto been accepted as an unfortunate but necessary factor in the feeding of cattle, being an inevitable consequence of the manner in which cows eat.
It is recognised in the invention that a feeder can be so constructed that, if and when the cow drops a portion of a mouthful of hay, the feeder will make it possible for the dropped or spilled hay to be collected, and to be re-presented to the cattle. A feeder constructed according to the invention is therefore aimed at having a much reduced wastage rate, as compared with conventional feeders.